It is known that modern circuit breaker panels have a very messy and hard-to-use form of identification to determine which breaker switch controls a specific circuit (or electrical outlet/electrical switch) in a residential or commercial building. The lines for writing the information are small and the information written on them often needs to be changed. Furthermore, if the information regarding which circuit breaker controls which electrical circuit was originally written in pen, it can quickly turn into a complete mess of scribbles and bad handwriting. Furthermore, while masking tape or sticky notes are sometimes used to solve this issue, they are merely temporary and can just as easily fall off over time or have the writing fade away.
Prior to the present invention, as set forth in general terms above and more specifically below, it is known to employ various types of identification systems and devices to identify which circuit breaker controls a specific circuit (or electrical outlet/electrical switch) in a residential or commercial building. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,868 by Brooks, U.S. Pat. No. 6,246,304 by Gasper, U.S. Pat. No. 6,593,530 by Hunt, U.S. Pat. No. 6,903,289 by Tongo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,064,635 by Bogdon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,205,996 by Combs, U.S. Pat. No. 8,604,915 by Clarke, U.S. Pat. No. 9,983,646 by Mullen et al., U.S. Patent Application 2014/0211345 by Thompson at al., U.S. Patent Application 2016/0020590 by Roosli et al., PCT Patent Application WO 2014/099154 by Walsh et al., and EP Patent Application 2,549,610 by Watford. While these various identification systems and devices used to identify which circuit breaker controls a specific circuit (or electrical outlet/electrical switch) in a residential or commercial building may have been generally satisfactory, there is nevertheless a need for an identification tag that can be placed on or near an electrical outlet (or electrical circuit/electrical switch, or fixture) such that the identification tag can be used to identify which electrical breaker in the electrical circuit breaker box or panel is electrically connected to and controls that particular electrical outlet (or electrical circuit/electrical switch, or fixture), the identification tag can also be used to create a list of electrical outlets/electrical switches and fixtures associated with the identification tag(s), and the circuit breakers can be monitored and or controlled through the use of the identification tag(s).
It is the purpose of this invention to fulfill these and other needs in the prior art in a manner more apparent to the skilled artisan once given the following disclosure.